STILLMEADOWS SEASONS

There's a serenity, sparked with humanity, that gives Gladys Taber's books about Stillmeadow their unfailing charm. One feels, in following the round of seasons, month by month, as one does in returning to well loved scenes. There's a nostalgic quality, an evocation of the things that a beloved country home can mean, that all but the incurable city dweller enjoy experiencing. There are bits of homely philosophy, commentary on the state of the troubled world, chunks of housewifery, humorous touches- and always the dogs, each one of whom has become a real personality to anyone who reads Gladys Taber's Diary of Domesticity or who knows her Especially Spaniels, and the other Stillmeadow books. And of course there's a good deal about gardening (Jill's province)- and more about the kitchen and (which Gladys herself makes sound so casually easy and enticing). Picnics of every kind outings to savor the countryside- all in all, a good life.